Friday, July 25, 2008

Growing up I loved to eat Corn Toasties for breakfast. Those sweet, dense, toastable cornmeal circles dripping in melted butter were such a treat. I think I remember that we used to buy them frozen from a Howard Johnson restaurant near our house. Its been a long time since I've had them, or even thought of them, but over the Fourth of July I thought I spotted some in my parents' freezer. This made me start thinking, could I make my own corn toasties at home? I mentioned them to Matt & he said he'd never had them so this set me on my mission.I started looking for recipes online. There were are couple things called corn toasties that were really muffins & then there was something that was creamed corn on toast! There was only one that sounded like what I was looking for & it was an anonymous recipe from Cooks.com (the exact same recipe was also on a few other sites). The ingredients sounded right though some of the other instructions were a little vague, like what temperature was needed for baking. Well, I figured I'd been doing enough baking lately that I could take a stab at it.

This was what I had been looking for. The batter cooked up to a nice thin, dense corn cake which held together well when cut into individual portions & in the toaster. The flavor was just as I remembered sweet but not too sweet with that great texture you get from cornmeal. I would have loved to have made these round like the ones I grew up but the squares probably fit the toaster better anyway.

This morning we popped them in the toaster & I was brought right back to childhood.

Preheat oven to 350 F.In a medium-sized bowl mix together the melted butter & sugar. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Add the baking powder, cornmeal, flour & salt. Mix until everything is moistened. Stir in milk & mix until almost smooth (a few lumps are fine).

Lightly grease a 10" x 15" baking sheet with 1/2" sides. Pour the batter into the baking sheet, spreading into all the corners. Tap the baking sheet on the counter 1 or 2 times to even the batter out.

Bake for about 25 minutes. The edges should be brown & pulling away from the side of the pan & the top show be set. Allow to rest in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes. Using a sharp knife cut into individual pieces I cut it into eight 2 1/2" x 3 3/4" rectangles.

Store the toasties wrapped in plastic wrap or in a resealable bag in the refrigerator for use over the next week. For longer storage keep them in the freezer.

To serve toast until browning & top with butter, syrup, honey or jam.

Makes 8 toasties

This is my sweet (as opposed to savory) entry for the new food event over at What's Cooking.Ben is hosting a bi-weekly event for people who love to bake with prizes for both sweet & savory entries. The first deadline is August 7th so preheat those ovens & join the fun.

I love corn toasties! We can get them from the Freihoffer bread outlet, but having home made ones would be much better I'm sure!

For those asking, corn toasties are a lot like corn bread, a little less crumbly and a little more sweet and when toasted are crisp around the edges and taste wonderful with lots of melted butter! YUMMM

I just took these out of the oven and had to have one warm without toasting it - yummy! I can't wait to try one toasted. One small error I think - your ingredient list says "baking powder" and your instructions say "baking soda" I went with the baking powder and they turned out great. Thought you might want to edit...thanks for great easy recipe.

Okay, we don't know each other but I absolutely adore you for posting this! I grew up on these living up North and on a recent trip was disappointed to see that I could not find them. Now I can make them and relive the joys of youth eating these hot from the toaster slathered with butter. Yeah!!!

I was wanting corn toasties this morning. It's been about 25 years now. My family used to get them when we would go visit my grandparents in Minnesota. My mission for today was to find a recipe for them. Out of all I have seen, yours looks like the real deal!

Oh, wow! I hadn't thought of Corn Toasties for years until today! There was nothing better on a cold school morning than two Corn Toasties dripping with butter, or on a summer day, with strawberry jam on top...Now I absolutely have to try this recipe, thank you so much for posting it!

I called my Mom to see if she remembered the Corn Toastees. While we were on the phone, I found your recipe. I made them tonight, added blueberries (they're plentiful right now and that's what got me thinking about the toastees to begin with). They tasted JUST like they used to when I was a kid. Thanks for the great recipe!!

I had these when we lived up north and then we moved to Texas and couldn't find them at ALL! I'm going to try this recipe and test it out! One tip to make them circular: bake as you said in the 10x15 pan and then use a glass for the circle shape, place the glass on top of cooled corn cake and cut with a sharp knife around the top of the glass to make into a circle. I did this technique to make a mini-layer cake for my baby's birthday. You'll of course have lots of leftover pieces but that makes easy snacking :)

Thanx a lot! I worked at Howard Johnson's in the sixties -- breakfast shift. I served these repeatedly and ate them several times a week. They were always freshgreat. I never successfully transitioned to the grocery store frozen ones.Now I make mine fresh and round using hamburger bun pans. -- Happy old aged woman.

Thanks for the recipe! It sounds just like the ones I grew up eating. I am wondering if anyone ate the bran toasties or has a recipe for them? My mom, who is pretty sick, has been craving them, and google has failed me! Any help would be appreciated. -Nan

My family is originally from Little Falls Minn but I was born and raised in Texas. 50 yrs later, still here. Every year we would go to Minn to visit the grandparents and we would bring back a suitcase full of Howard Johnsons Corn Toasties and Salt Water Taffy. I have had a craving for these for 5 years now. That was the last time we went to Minn.

Thank you for bringing back such wonderful childhood memories for me. I can't wait for breakfast tomorrow morning!

Yesterday morning my 72 year old husband and me his 65 year old wife awoke and turned to each other and , I'm not kidding,said we both had a real craving for corn toasties from Howard Johnson's. Well they are long gone and so off to the internet!Today for breakfast we had them after at least 25 years. Thanks, Thanks, Thanks! I'll meet my maker with a big smile knowing that I had them here and you know they will be in heaven too. I guess I'm going there???

I was watching America's Test Kitchen this morning and they were talking about Horn & Hardart recipes/food and that got me to thinking about all the food I've been missing. Corn Toasties popped into my mind and I started Googling.So happy to come across your recipe. I will try it soon - I also remember the blueberry version.Since I'm supposed to be GF, I'm going to try to create a GF version (so I can pig out whenever)!

It amazes me that some of these companies don't go back in their files and think about re-introducing some of these products. Of course, most of the companies have been bought out and have no interest or knowledge in these items.

The other product line I have wished for is the original single layer cakes that Sara Lee used to make: banana, orange or chocolate. They were simple but very good - I don't think their double layer, fancy cakes are as good.

I am still crying. I have not had Corn Toastees since the early 1980's. I grew up on them in the 60's-70's and cannot believe this recipe is here in front of me now. They say that smell is the most connected sense to memory, and the popcorn being made in the breakroom at work reminded me of my favorite breakfast as a kid. Had to do a search. SOOOOOO glad I found this post!THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOSH!!! I also have been thinking about Corn Toasties for a LONG time!These little delights are among my favorite memories from childhood in the 50's and 60's. And it looks like a lot of other "baby-boomers" are posting and feel as I do. THANK YOU so much for the recipe....now I'm heading to the kitchen!

I will be making these very very soon. I made corn bread the other night and had some left over. I thought about eating it for breakfast and then out of no where my brain remembered eating corn toasties as a kid with a soft boiled egg on top. Then I thought "no no, this corn bread will not do, I need Corn Toaties!" I went to the store and searched every inch of the freezer section and was SO sad to realize that they aren't around anymore. Since then I have been craving corn toasties with butter and velvety egg yoke. I can taste it in my mouth and I think I just drooled on my keyboard. I am so happy to find your recipe. Thank you!

Hi Kat,OMG! This recipe is perfect and like others bring me back to my childhood. I too grew up on Howard Johnson's Corn toasties.. I grew up Massachusetts. I made your recipe many times now and my kids ask me to make Corn Toasties all the time now...I think we have a new family tradition thanks to you! BTW I really loved Howard Johnson's Orange Toasties as well. Have you tried to turn this recipe into Orange Toasties? Any suggestions? Thank you!

Thanks for your recipe!! years ago I went to AntiGua for a January vacation and they had a cornmeal bread that you could slice and toast have been looking for the recipe since then... If you find one let me know??

For almost a year, I was paid to go visit a bitter old woman about 45 minutes away. Nothing made her happy, but I went anyhow because I needed the money. One day she was whining about not being able to buy Corn Toasties anymore. I'd never heard of them. Well, I found your blog, baked the things, and you and I together (mostly you) have made her smile! She's happy every time I bring them. Also, I have a friend who's 86 and SHE loves them, too. So ... thanks SO much!

I was born in the late 70's and my grandma used to make me these delicious square corn thingies. My favorite were the blueberry ones but I've also had the and plain corn. She would buy them frozen a pack of 4 at our grocery store in south Florida. I've been craving them for some time and decided just yesterday to do a search for these delightful squares. I'm do happy to have come across this blog. I will be making these soon!! My husband has never heard of these before.

I used to eat these in NY when I was a kid. Fast forward 30 years in Ohio and our local bakery made them but they were in very few stores. In January they discontinued them! I found your recipe and made them and they are wonderful with butter on them!!! I cut mine in 12 pieces so they were a little bigger and I sprinkled a little cinnamon on them after I put the butter on and THEY ARE FANTASTIC! Thank you:) I can't wait to have my dad that has dementia try them because he used to love them too:)

Small correction to your article: I don't recall HoJo's Corn Toaties ever being circular in format. They were made rectangular to fit the toasters, before the popularity of the toaster oven over emerged. Still thankful for the recipe, though!

Hi Kat,I had the comment about Howard Johnson's Orange Toasties back in June 8 2013. I tried your suggestion about adding orange zest to the batter and it came out perfectly! The taste is like a remembered! Thanks so much!

I have been reading about these cornbread toasties and just made some in my 4 inch spring pan. They turned out delicious. The next time I will adjust the amount I put in. They were more like muffins that toasties but delicious anywayCandy